I Love You
by butraura
Summary: Austin confronts Dez's bully and gets himself in trouble. Lots of swearing or mature themes or whatever so reader beware I guess. Two shot.
1. Chapter 1

To RJ, Laura, Frida and Ana.

That afternoon, Ally, Trish, and Austin are standing by their senior lockers. It sounds so weird being a senior. But every time he hears the word, he gets pumped. Fuck yeah, he's a senior. His dumb-assery didn't hold him back even though he still doesn't know where New South Wales is. Wouldn't it be near Wales? Nope, alright. Fuck it. He's a _senior_. No one fucks with you when you're a senior. Not even other seniors. You're all seniors. You're all top shit. No one gives a fuck. It's great.

They're standing by their lockers and Austin is practically bouncing off the metal. He's on cloud nine and in the best of moods. Also, it's Friday. He's going to stay awake all night and sleep all of tomorrow and recover from his stupidity on Sunday. He's going to get wasted and he doesn't give a fuck. Seventh period is finally over and they get to go home. Just waiting for Dez, who's class is on the other side of the school.

He puts is arm around Ally's shoulders while she reviews her study material for Monday's test. Trish is talking to Jace since they're finally back together.

"Trish, quiz me," Ally asks, trying to hand her the notebook.

Trish responds with a raised hand. "Ally, I'm not studying right now. It is Friday. I'm going to visit my boyfriend and drink." She turns back to her open locker. "So what time do you want me to come over?" she continues, speaking to her boyfriend. "Okay, see you at 6. Love you too." She hangs up and offers a 'bitch, really?' look to Ally, who just pouts.

"Fine," Ally sighs. She closes her book and returns it to her book-bag. Austin keeps his arm lazed around her shoulder and she leans against him as he checks the time. 3:42. School ended twelve minutes ago, he notices. Dez is usually five minutes late at best. He looks down expectantly at Ally, who answers the question he didn't ask yet with a look. She nods slightly as well. He composes a text to their red-headed companion.

 _Where r u?_ he sends.

He waits a while and Ally plays with their fingers mindlessly. "Are you grabbing tonight or should I?" she asks, making conversation.

But he's distracted and doesn't answer. Dez always responds immediately. And now its 3:46.

Trish finishes doing her hair in her locker mirror and a puzzled look grows on her face. "Where's the clown?" she asks, confused.

Ally shrugs. Austin shakes his head. "I don't know," he answers. "And this is not like him at all."

 _bro... where are you?_

Nothing.

As Trish puts her makeup back in her bag there's a loud thud and the echo of metal from the hallway to their left. They all run to see what's up just in time to witness Dez being thrown in to the lockers by a couple of football players in their grade. He's red in the face and it's evident that he'd been crying. There's some slight bruising on his lip and below his eye, and a long cut across his forehead.

"Dez!" the girls shout in unison, appalled by what they were seeing.

Austin, frozen, just stares. The guys hitting their friend don't seem to care – or notice, maybe – that they're watching. They just continue the abuse without fail. They knee him in the stomach suddenly, earning the tiniest squeak of agony from Dez's swollen lips. "P-please," he begs, holding himself upright. He can hardly breathe; they knocked the wind out of him.

"I'm going to get help-" Ally starts to say. But Austin bolts after Dez before she can go. He starts running down the hall faster than he's ever moved before. "Austin, don't!" she shrieks.

"Ally, go!" Trish equals, horrified. "Go get a teacher." Ally is gone in a flash.

The guys beating on Dez give him a rough blow to the face. "You fucking freak," one of them says. "You're a fucking pathetic piece of shit. Go back to the circus you useless fuck!"

Dez is silent as he takes the hits, unable to make noise, protest or fight back. The main asshole beating on him doesn't notice Austin coming. He goes to deliver a kick to the shin but as Austin reaches them he literally throws him five feet down the hallway. His advances are met with an even glare and the guy, who he finally recognizes as Dallas King, stands up. "What's the matter, Moon?" he taunts. "Came to save your boyfriend?" He looks at Dez and spits. "Fucking pathetic, that's what this is."

Austin shoves him again. "You better watch your fucking mouth before I shove your head so far up your ass people will think you're in to that shit and wonder where _your_ boyfriend is. I swear to god I will haunt you until the day you die and whatever's after that if you don't walk away right now," Austin growls.

Dallas laughs in derision. "You don't scare me, Mr. Rockstar," he replies. "How 'bout I fuck up that face for ya? Make sure no love struck twelve year-olds ever buy your shit again? Or how about I take your little girlfriend for a spin and show her how a real man fucks a bitch like her? Why is she with you, huh? Probably would put up quite a fuss if I got my hands on her. Not for long," he grins. "I got ways of making girls see my way. Or maybe I'll just leave her and Pixie Stick and Dora over here without a weak-ass bitch like you and beat the shit out of you instead," he suggests.

"I fucking dare you," Austin threatens menacingly.

Dallas sizes himself up and takes a swing in Austin's direction, then misses. He stumbles slightly but recovers quickly. He braces himself off the wall.

"Walk much?" Austin taunts. The other guys beating on Dez have fled in the midst of the chaos. Thank god, he things, because it provides Trish the exact opportunity she needs to get their friend away from any lines of fire. He angles Dallas away and she creeps to the wall and helps Dez up. He groans and whimpers but complies, eager to escape the madness.

"What do you see in that fruitcake, anyway?" Dallas wonders sourly. "He's not a looker and has no chance of getting a girl, unless you fulfil those needs for him too, eh, Pretty Boy?"

"Not that I have to explain anything to you, Dumbass, but fun fact: people like Dez exist because people actually bother to love him. What the fuck is your damage? No one wants to be the sucker that has to get you off? What did I hear the other day?" Austin feigns sarcasm. "'Dallas King is so limp in bed that girls that he's with wish they were dead?'"

Dallas launches himself at him then and thrusts him against the nearest wall, but, to Austin's dismay, he's thrown in to a water fountain as well. The shape causes Austin's back to contort in an unnatural way and he hears a crack as loud as a gunshot in his ears. His back arches forcefully and all at once he yelps. He looks at Dez, who's watching with wide eyes while Trish leads him to a bench nearby. He's limping, which angers Austin further. He stands up as straight as he can manage and jumps at Dallas. They crumple at once and the blond stands to tower over the body.

Adrenaline starts to course through his veins like liquid Energizer batteries and his eyes practically glaze over. His forgets about the pain in an instant. He psychs Dallas out by faking a left and making a right on his stomach and kicked with such brute force they're lucky it didn't kill him. He's left motionless, breathing hastily and in broken rhythms.

He kicks him again. "You fucking son of a bitch," he seethes with disgust. "You think you can walk around this school and beat the shit out of _my_ best friend? You think you can threaten my girlfriend? You think you can treat Trish like anything less than a person? Not fucking likely." He delivers a fatal kick with each word. "You're. Lucky. I. Don't. Show. You. What. You'd. Look. Like. Dead!" He gets closer to Dallas's face and practically whispers. "Next time you come near Dez, or Ally or Trish, I will find you, and I don't give a flying fuck _where_ you are or _how_ you do it, I will kill you," he promises.

"You don't get to walk away from this," he adds.

And with those words, the all-consuming adrenaline starts to exit his body and he's flooded with the pain and dizziness. He crawls maybe a foot away from Dallas and collapses, but not before checking on Dez and seeing Ally run towards them with a nurse and the principal by her side.


	2. Chapter 2

He wakes with a jolt. He hears buzzing and beeping and presumably the sound of monitors surrounding him, which causes confusion. He hears all sorts of things that don't belong in his bedroom unless he and Ally were-

never mind.

He also hears his parents, which _definitely do not_ belong in his bedroom. He opens his eyes then – an action that hurts a little. He squints instead (which also hurts). As his eyes begin to focus, he realizes he's in a white, sterile room.

"What's going on?" he croaks. It comes out really hoarse which startles him. There's a chorus of sighs around him. He looks around to distinguish the voices and sees his mother and father, sees Ally and Trish, two doctors. "What's going on," he repeats.

"You don't remember what happened?" Ally says, shocked. "The fight?"

It comes back then, briefly, and in sequences, but it comes back. And he remembers Dallas beating the shit out of Dez and he remembers returning the favour with interest. He remembers Dallas threatening everyone he loves. He remembers the gut-wrenching crack of his back. He flinches. But then he grins. "I'm not going to apologize," he explains. "I'm not in the slightest sorry for defending Dez."

Mike and Mimi shake their heads woefully.

"Austin," Ally starts.

"Ally, don't," he interrupts. "I don't want to hear it. You didn't hear the shit he said about you three. You saw what he did to Dez."

"I wasn't going to say that. I was going to say it was scary," she explains. "Scary seeing you so easily jump in to combat. But that it was also very admirable. Dez didn't deserve the shit he went through."

"Where is Dez," Austin asks suddenly, realizing he wasn't there.

"He's in his own room. He's in worse condition," Trish explains. "His parents are there and so is Deedee."

"I need to go see him," Austin mutters, trying to pry himself out of the wires and tape.

Ally and Trish push him back on the bed. "You can't leave yet," the doctor says. She comes over and starts to read from a chart. "You sprained your spine somehow. It'll take a while to heal, and it'll hurt for quite sometime to sit because you severely bruised your tailbone in doing so. You have a bunch of minor cuts and bruises and you only needed two stitches in your hand. So you're okay. I just need to clear you and have your parents sign a release form since you're still 17," she explains.

Austin nods.

The doctor leaves and Mike and Mimi come over to the bed. "Austin, what were you thinking," his mother asks, upset.

"I was thinking that this asshole was literally close to beating my best friend unconscious and that it wasn't okay."

"His parents are charging you with attempted murder," Mike says.

Austin laughs, annoyed. "If I had tried to kill him he'd be dead."

" _ **Austin**_ ," they both yell.

"Well, what. I'll face the trial and I'll plead however I have to. I don't give a fuck."

Ally is quiet, taking it in.

The doctor returns with the release forms. "If he begins to suffer from any of the symptoms I listed to you earlier call me immediately. There could still be a concussion, it's just that sometimes the signs take a while to pop up. Otherwise, we'll see you again in a week to remove the stitches.

Everyone gets up to leave at once and his parents go to wait in the car. Ally and Trish direct Austin to Dez's room and knock lightly on the door. His parents open the door and Dez's mom pulls Austin in a bear hug, pausing when he winces. "Oh, sorry, dear," she bawls.

"It's okay, Mrs. Wade," he soothes, rubbing her back. "How is he?"

"He's awake – sort of," she answers. "He's got two black eyes and three broken ribs. He's bruised just about everywhere and has a fat lip. But luckily it wasn't as bad, believe it or not, as they thought it'd be. I can't believe someone would hurt my baby."

He shakes his head. "I know. But apparently I almost killed the other guy, so there's that." She's quiet. "Could I have a few minutes alone with him?" he asks kindly.

"Of course," she answers, pulling her husband and the girls out of the room and closing the door.

Austin takes the chair closest to Dez's head and waits for him to open his eyes and notice him. When he does, Austin practically dies and goes to heaven. He's so glad to see him.

"H-hey," Dez whispers painfully. "How are you?"

"How am _I_?" Austin laughs. "That's funny. I'm in better shape than both of you."

"I heard you're a murderer," Dez jokes.

" _Almost_ ," Austin corrects him, chuckling. "The bastard didn't actually meet his grave."

"That sucks."

"Yeah, but you know I'd kill him if it had gotten any worse."

"I know."

"I can't believe he did that to you."

"I know," Dez breathes shakily. "I literally didn't do anything to him except walk past him in the locker room." He rolls his eyes. "I think he thinks I'm gay."

"It doesn't excuse the way he treated you and I don't give a fuck what he thought," Austin replies harshly. "And even if you were, and even if you _didn't_ have a girlfriend pursuing a modelling career in LA, and even if all he did was verbally harass you, I'd do exactly what I did again. I'd kill him for you."

"Why?" Dez asks. He seems genuinely sad and confused.

"Why?" Austin repeats in disbelief. "Because fuck him, and fuck anyone who thinks this is okay. Because you're my best friend in this godforsaken world and I love you even if I have to love you from jail."

"Thanks, I love you too," he whispers.

"You better," Austin nods. It's silent between for a moment and then Austin laughs. "So whattaya think? Should Trish be my attorney?"

"Absolutely," Dez answers with ease. "She'd probably scare him in to confessing with just her face and her 'vast' knowledge of court words."

"Perfect."


End file.
